The Future is Equal

Media Releases

Oxfam says: COP29 deal is a “global Ponzi scheme”

Responding to the COP29 climate finance agreement, in which rich countries agree to mobilize $300 billion a year to help Global South countries cope with warming temperatures and switch to renewable energy, Oxfam International’s Climate Change Policy Lead, Nafkote Dabi, said:

“The terrible verdict from the Baku climate talks shows that rich countries view the Global South as ultimately expendable, like pawns on a chessboard. The $300 billion so-called ‘deal’ that poorer countries have been bullied into accepting is unserious and dangerous —a soulless triumph for the rich, but a genuine disaster for our planet and communities who are being flooded, starved, and displaced today by climate breakdown. And as for promises of future funding? They’re just as hollow as the deal itself.”

Oxfam Aotearoa’s Climate Justice Lead Nick Henry said: “The failure to meet the global need for climate finance is a failure of empathy from the leaders of rich countries.” 

“New Zealand’s climate grants are an essential lifeline for our Pacific region and a positive example of public grants, not debt. Our government needs to continue ramping up this finance to at least meet our fair share of the new global goal.” 

Oxfam International’s Climate Change Policy Lead, Nafkote Dabi continues, “The money on the table is not only a pittance in comparison to what’s really needed –it’s not even real “money”, by and large. Rather, it’s a motley mix of loans and privatized investment –a global Ponzi scheme that the private equity vultures and public relations people will now exploit. The destruction of our planet is avoidable, but not with this shabby and dishonorable deal. The richest polluters need to wise up —and pay up.”

 

Contact information

Rachel Schaevitz in Auckland, NZ | Rachel.schaevitz@oxfam.org.nz | 027 959 5555 
Jeshua Hope in Suva, Fiji | jhope@oxfampacific.org | +679 7500889

COP29 must deliver more than “threadbare promises”

In response to the latest climate finance draft text at COP29, Oxfam International’s Climate Justice Lead, Safa’ Al Jayoussi, said:  

“COP29 must do more than simply repeat the same threadbare promises. Rich countries have spent decades now stalling and blocking genuine progress on climate finance. This has left the Global South suffering the most catastrophic consequences of a climate crisis they did not create. The draft text scandalously misses the crucial element of declaring a clear public commitment to a new climate finance goal.  

“Rich countries, those most responsible for climate chaos, owe $5 trillion in annual climate debt and reparations. This funding must come as grants-based public financing to help communities that need it the most mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change and recover from loss and damage. Anything less will simply be a failure. 

“This is not charity – it is an established obligation under international law. It is the bare minimum needed to shield frontline communities from devastation, allow them to rebuild after disasters pass, and ensure their just transition to a sustainable future. The next few days are a credibility test for these climate negotiations and for COP itself. The time for stalling is over. If rich countries don’t deliver, they will go down in history as having chosen profit over people and complacency over courage.” 

Notes to editors

Rich countries continue to resist calls for climate reparations. Climate activists are demanding the Global North provide at least $5 trillion a year in public finance to the Global South.
 

Contact information

Rachel Schaevitz in Auckland, NZ I rachel.schaevitz@oxfam.org.nz

Jeshua Hope in Suva, Fiji | jhope@oxfampacific.org | +679 7500889 

Global climate activists rally at Baku’s Olympic stadium with bold “Pay Up!” message

Global climate activists today gathered at Baku’s Olympic stadium —the venue for the United Nations climate talks— to urge world leaders to commit to a new, ambitious climate finance deal. The message “Pay Up!” unfolded across the stadium seats, in perfect sight from the COP29 presidency offices located on the opposite side of the arena. 

COP29 has been dubbed the “finance COP” because setting a new goal for global climate finance and laying out a plan for achieving it is the big battleground issue. Activists and civil society organizations call for the new goal to drastically increase from its present $100 billion a year to $5 trillion a year in climate debt and reparations and to protect communities facing the worst impacts of the crisis. 

“As communities in the Global South bear the brunt of climate disasters, it’s past time for the Global North to pay their share —without saddling us with more loans and debt,” said Marinel Ubaldo, a Make Rich Polluters Pay activist and delegate from the Philippines. “Real climate action means financing solutions that uplift, empower, and sustain our communities, free from the chains of fossil fuels and debt traps.”

Global climate policy experts underscore this year’s conference as one of the most critical since COP26 in 2021.Without more ambitious and urgent action, the world could warm by a terrifying 3.1°C by the end of the century.

Activists are also calling to make rich polluters pay through taxes on fossil fuel-intensive industries and the super-rich. Fifty of the world’s richest billionaires emit more carbon pollution through their investments, private jets and yachts in 90 minutes than the average person does in their lifetime.  

“The world needs leaders who are committed to justice and fairness; this starts with honoring climate finance commitments, taxing the super-rich, phasing out fossil fuels, and holding polluters accountable,” Ubaldo added. “The climate crisis doesn’t pause for politics or profit —it demands swift, decisive, and equitable action now.”

Notes to editors

The organisers are a cross-constituency of climate groups, including Oxfam.

Oxfam’s report, “Carbon Inequality Kills,” tracks the emissions from private jets, yachts and polluting investments and details how the super-rich are fueling inequality, hunger and death across the world. 

Contact information

Rachel Schaevitz/ rachel.schaevitz@oxfam.org.nz

 

Billionaires emit more carbon pollution in 90 mins than the average person does

Fifty of the world’s richest billionaires on average produce more carbon through their investments, private jets and yachts in just over an hour and a half than the average person does in their entire lifetime, a new Oxfam report reveals today. The first-of-its-kind study, “Carbon Inequality Kills,” tracks the emissions from private jets, yachts and polluting investments and details how the super-rich are fueling inequality, hunger and death across the world. The report comes ahead of COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, amidst growing fears that climate breakdown is accelerating, driven largely by the emissions of the richest people.

If the world continues its current emissions, the carbon budget (the amount of CO2 that can still be added to the atmosphere without causing global temperatures to rise above 1.5°C) will be depleted in about four years. However, if everyone’s emissions matched those of the richest 1 percent, the carbon budget would be used up in under five months. And if everyone started emitting as much carbon as the private jets and superyachts of the average billionaire in Oxfam’s study, it would be gone in two days.

“The super-rich are treating our planet like their personal playground, setting it ablaze for pleasure and profit. Their dirty investments and luxury toys —private jets and yachts— aren’t just symbols of excess; they’re a direct threat to people and the planet,” said Oxfam International Executive Director Amitabh Behar.

“Oxfam’s research makes it painfully clear: the extreme emissions of the richest, from their luxury lifestyles and even more from their polluting investments, are fueling inequality, hunger and —make no mistake— threatening lives. It’s not just unfair that their reckless pollution and unbridled greed is fueling the very crisis threatening our collective future —it’s lethal,” said Behar.

The report, the first-ever study to look at both the luxury transport and polluting investments of billionaires, presents detailed new evidence of how their outsized emissions are accelerating climate breakdown and wreaking havoc on lives and economies. The world’s poorest countries and communities have done the least to cause the climate crisis, yet they experience its most dangerous consequences.

Oxfam found that, on average, 50 of the world’s richest billionaires took 184 private jet flights in a single year, spending 425 hours in the air —producing as much carbon as the average person would in 300 years. In the same period, their yachts emitted as much carbon as the average person would in 860 years.

  • Jeff Bezos’ two private jets spent nearly 25 days in the air over a 12-month period and emitted as much carbon as the average US Amazon employee would in 207 years. Carlos Slim took 92 trips in his private jet, equivalent to circling the globe five times.
  • The Walton family, heirs of the Walmart retail chain, own three superyachts that in one year produced as much carbon as around 1,714 Walmart shop workers.

Billionaires’ lifestyle emissions dwarf those of ordinary people, but the emissions from their investments are dramatically higher still —the average investment emissions of 50 of the world’s richest billionaires are around 340 times their emissions from private jets and superyachts combined. Through these investments, billionaires have huge influence over some of the world’s biggest corporations and are driving us over the edge of climate disaster.

Nearly 40 percent of billionaire investments analyzed in Oxfam’s research are in highly polluting industries: oil, mining, shipping and cement. On average, a billionaire’s investment portfolio is almost twice as polluting as an investment in the S&P 500. However, if their investments were in a low-carbon-intensity investment fund, their investment emissions would be 13 times lower.

Oxfam’s report details three critical areas, providing national and regional breakdowns, where the emissions of the world’s richest 1 percent since 1990 are already having —and are projected to have— devastating consequences:

  • Global inequality. The emissions of the richest 1 percent have caused global economic output to drop by $2.9 trillion since 1990. The biggest impact will be in countries least responsible for climate breakdown. Low- and lower-middle-income countries will lose about 2.5 percent of their cumulative GDP between 1990 and 2050. Southern Asia, South-East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa will lose 3 percent, 2.4 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively. High-income countries, on the other hand, will accrue economic gains.
  • Hunger. The emissions of the richest 1 percent have caused crop losses that could have provided enough calories to feed 14.5 million people a year between 1990 and 2023. This will rise to 46 million people annually between 2023 and 2050, with Latin America and the Caribbean especially affected (9 million a year by 2050).
  • Death. 78 percent of excess deaths due to heat through 2120 will occur in low- and lower-middle-income countries.

“It’s become so tiring, to be resilient. It’s not something that I have chosen to be —it was necessary to survive. A child shouldn’t need to be strong. I just wanted to be safe, to play in the sand —but I was always fleeing when storms came. Counting dead bodies after a typhoon isn’t something any child should have to do. And whether we survive or not, the rich polluters don’t even care,” said Marinel Sumook Ubaldo, a young climate activist from the Philippines.

Rich countries have failed to keep their $100 billion climate finance promise, and heading into COP29, there is no indication that they will set a new climate finance goal that adequately addresses the climate financing needs of Global South countries. Oxfam warns that the cost of global warming will continue to rise unless the richest drastically reduce their emissions.

Ahead of COP29, Oxfam calls on governments to:

  • Reduce the emissions of the richest. Governments must introduce permanent income and wealth taxes on the top 1 percent, ban or punitively tax carbon-intensive luxury consumptions —starting with private jets and superyachts— and regulate corporations and investors to drastically and fairly reduce their emissions.
  • Make rich polluters pay. Climate finance needs are enormous and escalating, especially in Global South countries that are withstanding the worst climate impacts. A wealth tax on the world’s millionaires and billionaires could raise at least $1.7 trillion annually. A wealth tax on investments in polluting activities could bring in another $100 billion.
  • Reimagine our economies. The current economic system, designed to accumulate wealth for the already rich through relentless extraction and consumption, has long undermined a truly sustainable and equitable future for all. Governments need to commit to ensuring that, both globally and at a national level, the incomes of the top 10 percent are no higher than the bottom 40 percent.

ENDS

Notes to editors

Download Oxfam’s report “Carbon Inequality Kills” and the methodology note.

Oxfam’s research shows that the richest 1 percent, made up of 77 million people including billionaires, millionaires and those earning $310,000 ($140,000 PPP) or more a year, accounted for 16 percent of all CO2 emissions in 2019.

On average, a billionaire’s investments in polluting industries such as fossil fuels and cement are double the average for the Standard & Poor 500 group of corporations.

Oxfam’s analysis estimates the changes in economic output (GDP), changes in yields of major crops (it considers maize, wheat, and soy, which are among the most common crops globally) and excess deaths due to changes in temperatures that can be attributed to the emissions of the richest people. Economic damages are expressed in International Dollars ($), which adjusts for Purchasing Power Parity (PPP).

Daniel Horen Greenford (Concordia University, Universitat de Barcelona) carried out the calculations on economic damages, Corey Lesk (Dartmouth College) conceived and carried out calculations on agricultural losses, and Daniel Bressler (Columbia University) provided country-level estimates of the mortality cost of carbon.

According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, if invested in renewable energy and energy efficiency measures by 2030, billionaires’ wealth could cover the entire funding gap between what governments have pledged and what is needed to keep global warming below 1.5⁰C.

Rich countries continue to resist calls for climate reparations. Climate activists are demanding the Global North provide at least $5 trillion a year in public finance to the Global South “as a down payment towards their climate debt” to the countries, people and communities of the Global South who are the least responsible for climate breakdown but are the most affected.

Contact information

Rachel Schaevitz – rachel.schaevitz@oxfam.org.nz

Urgent global appeal: Defend UNRWA from Israeli ban and prevent catastrophic consequences for Palestinians

We call on world leaders to act urgently to protect UNRWA from the unprecedented and dangerous attacks it faces from the Israeli Government. The Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee passed two bills on 6 October 2024 aimed at ceasing UNRWA’s operations. These bills await final readings in the Knesset Plenum as soon as 28 October 2024. This could see UNRWA evicted from premises it has held for over 70 years and have its immunities revoked, severely blocking its ability to provide essential services such as healthcare and education to millions of Palestine refugees. This reckless move threatens to dismantle the backbone of the international humanitarian operation in Gaza, aggravating an already catastrophic crisis.

These bills seek to ban UNRWA from operating in areas under Israeli control, which would lead to the closure of its offices in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT). The proposed legislation would also terminate the agreement between Israel and UNRWA from 1967 in which Israel committed to facilitating UNRWA’s work. This will effectively paralyze the agency’s ability to fulfil its mandate as set out by the UN General Assembly in 1949.

Dismantling UNRWA would be catastrophic for Palestinians especially in Gaza and the West Bank as they are deprived of essentials such as food, water, medical aid, education and protection. It will also have catastrophic consequences for millions of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria where essential humanitarian aid is crucial for both the refugees and the host communities.

These actions are part of the wider strategy of the Government of Israel to delegitimize UNRWA, discredit its support for Palestine refugees, and undermine the international legal framework protecting their rights, including the right of return. If passed, these laws will severely impact not only UNRWA’s operations but also the rights of Palestinian refugees.

If these proposed laws proceed, they will have devastating operational and legal impacts on UNRWA’s ability to provide services in the occupied Palestinian territory, including in Gaza. These laws will not only harm the refugees who rely on UNRWA but also jeopardize the agency’s personnel many of whom have been killed by Israeli attacks, and the ability of other UN and humanitarian agencies to operate. Contrary to claims of concern over UNRWA’s neutrality, the real intent appears to be, in part, to undermine its efforts to uphold the status of Palestine refugees and obstruct a future political resolution.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ordered Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent the commission of all acts within the scope of Article II of the Genocide Convention. By blocking UNRWA’s operations, Israel is disregarding the ICJ provisional measure to ensure the delivery of life-saving aid into Gaza. The ICJ stated in March 2024 that: “In conformity with its obligations under the Genocide Convention, and in view of the worsening conditions of life faced by Palestinians in Gaza, in particular the spread of famine and starvation, Israel shall: (a) take all necessary and effective measures to ensure, without delay, in full co-operation with the United Nations, the unhindered provision at scale by all concerned of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance”. According to human rights groups, halting UNRWA’s services is part and parcel of the Israeli authorities’ unlawful siege of the Gaza Strip, which amounts to the war crimes of collective punishment and the use of starvation as a weapon of war.

There is no viable alternative to UNRWA. UNRWA’s essential and irreplaceable role in supporting Palestine refugees cannot be overstated. With a mandate from the UN General Assembly since 1949, UNRWA provides crucial services such as education, healthcare, and social support to millions of refugees. The idea of dismantling or undermining this agency is not only an affront to the values of multilateralism, but it also sets a dangerous precedent with global implications. Unilaterally tearing up UNRWA’s mandate would challenge the integrity of the international system, undermining the trust that underpins cooperative global governance.

We demand that world leaders use all diplomatic means to prevent this legislation from advancing. They must stand against Israel’s illegal actions and uphold the principles of the UN General Assembly Resolution on the ICJ Advisory Opinion (ICJ AO).

This is not a time for silence—it is a call to action. The global community must intervene now before more Palestinians are killed. The people of Gaza cannot endure further delays. Immediate, decisive action is needed to safeguard their rights, uphold their dignity, and enforce the recent International Court of Justice advisory opinion, which ruled Israel’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territory as unlawful. The future of millions of Palestinians is at stake, and the world must act without hesitation.

Signatories:

  1. ActionAid  
  2. ABCD Bethlehem  
  3. Action for Humanity  
  4. Amos Trust  
  5. Asamblea de Cooperación por la Paz  
  6. ATELIER ONGD (Valencia, Spain)  
  7. Caabu (Council for Arab-British Understanding)  
  8. Children Not Numbers  
  9. Christian Aid  
  10. Colectivo CALA (Extremadura, Spain)  
  11. COODECyL (Castilla y León Platform of Cooperation Organizations)  
  12. Coordinadora Andaluza de ONGD  
  13. Coordinadora Cántabra de ONGD  
  14. Coordinadora de ONGD Castilla La Mancha  
  15. Coordinadora de ONGD de Canarias (CONGDCA)  
  16. Coordinadora de ONGD de La Rioja  
  17. Coordinadora de ONGD de Navarra  
  18. Coordinadora Extremeña de ONGD  
  19. Coordinadora Galega de ONG para o Desenvolvemento  
  20. Coordinadora Valenciana de ONGD  
  21. DanChurchAid  
  22. Embrace the Middle East  
  23. Euskadiko GGKEen Koordinakundea  
  24. Federación Aragonesa de Solidaridad  
  25. FONSA  
  26. Gender Action for Peace and Security (GAPS)  
  27. Global Justice Now  
  28. Humanity & Inclusion – Handicap International  
  29. Human Rights Watch  
  30. INTERSOS
  31. Johanniter International Assistance  
  32. La Coordinadora de Organizaciones para el Desarrollo – Spain  
  33. Lafede.cat – Organitzacions per a la Justícia Global  
  34. Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights  
  35. Medico International  
  36. Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP)  
  37. Mennonite Central Committee (MCC)  
  38. Middle East Children’s Alliance  
  39. Movimiento Extremeño por la Paz  
  40. Movimiento Por la Paz – MPDL  
  41. Médicos del Mundo España  
  42. NOVACT Institute for Nonviolence  
  43. Norwegian People’s Aid  
  44. Oxfam  
  45. Quakers in Britain  
  46. Sabeel-Kairos UK  
  47. Sodepaz  
  48. The Huauquipura Association  
  49. United Against Inhumanity  
  50. War Child  
  51. War on Want  
  52. Welfare Association  

Oxfam condemns killing of water engineers in Gaza

Oxfam condemns in the strongest terms the killing in Gaza today of four water engineers and workers from the Khuzaa municipality who were working with our strategic partner the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU).  

The four men were killed on their way to conduct repairs to water infrastructure in Khuzaa, east of Khan Younis. Despite prior coordination with Israeli authorities their clearly-marked vehicle was bombed. Oxfam stands in solidarity with the CMWU, their partners and the families of the victims.  

Their deaths deepen the catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Gaza where access to clean water is already severely compromised.  

Dozens of engineers, civil servants and humanitarian workers have been killed in Israeli airstrikes throughout this war. They were all working on essential services to keep Gaza’s fragile infrastructure running. Despite their movements being coordinated with the Israeli authorities by the CMWU and the Palestinian Water Authority, to ensure their safety, they were still targeted.  

Attacks on civilian infrastructure and those who maintain it are clear violations of international humanitarian law. Those responsible must be held to account. Such attacks are part of the crime of using starvation as a weapon of war.   

Oxfam demands an independent investigation into this and other attacks on essential workers. We reiterate our calls for a ceasefire, an immediate halt to arms transfers to Israel, and the international community to ensure Israel is held accountable for its continued assault on civilians and those working to deliver life-saving services.

Contact Information: 

Rachel Schaevitz, rachel.schaevitz@oxfam.org.nz